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In this episode of Elixir, Helen is talking to Christopher Hamilton about the soliloquy ‘To be or not to be’ in Hamlet (Act 3, Scene 1) by William Shakespeare (1564 –1616)
The Chandos portrait, likely depicting Shakespeare, c. 1611
Text of the Poem
To be, or not to be, that is the question:
Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer
The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune,
Or to take arms against a sea of troubles
And by opposing end them. To die—to sleep,
No more; and by a sleep to say we end
The heart-ache and the thousand natural shocks
That flesh is heir to: 'tis a consummation
Devoutly to be wish'd. To die, to sleep;
To sleep, perchance to dream—ay, there's the rub:
For in that sleep of death what dreams may come,
When we have shuffled off this mortal coil,
Must give us pause—there's the respect
That makes calamity of so long life.
About the Poet
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Shakespeare
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/To_be,_or_not_to_be
About Christopher Hamilton
To see Christopher’s credits, skills and training, visit:
